Improvement in paper-feeders



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN ALLEN, OF NEWARK', NEW JERSEY.

`lMFFtGVEM ENT IN PAPER-FEEDERS.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN ALLEN, of N ewark, in the county ot' Essex andState of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin PapenFeeders for Envelope and other Machines; and'I do herebydeclarethat the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part oflthis specification, in which- Figure l is a plan of a feeder for anenvelope-machine with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalvert-ical section of the saine. Fig. 3 is a face view, on a larger scalethan Figsl and 2, of the bladewhich loosens the blank, sheet, or pieceof paper which is to be fed from that or those below it in a pile. Fig.et is an edge view ofthe said blade. Fig. 5 is an under side View of thesame. Fig. 6 isa vertical sectional view ot' a portion of the machine,seen looking in the opposite direction to Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of the edge ot' the blade which loosens the blank on alarger scale than Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-- sponding parts in theseveral figures.

This invention consists in the employment, for loosening the blank,piece, or sheet which is to be fed from those which are below it inapile, of a blade having an edge ot peculiar form, whereby it is made totake hold of the paper with greater certainty; also, in a peculiar modeof applying a blade for the above purpose, whereby it is enabled toadapt itself to the level of the top of the pile, and to anyinaccuracies in its operating machinery, and always to press uniformlyupon the paper 5 also, in a reciprocating and vibrating toothed fingeroperating in combination with the before-mentioned devices to convey`the separate blank, piece, or sheet to. the mechanism by which it is tobe converted into an envelope or otherwise 'manipulated or treated forany other purpose. y

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the framing, and B a table, Vupon which is placed a pile ofenvelope-blanks, a ci, repv resented in red color. This table isintended to have a very slow movement in order to keep the top blank ofthe pile at about the same level as the pile is `reduced by theoperation top blank or sheet.

of the peculiar form shown in Fig. 3, presentof the machine; but themeans of obtaining this movement is not shown, as such a movement of thetable is common. y y

b b are gages secured in the table for keep-` ing the back edges otblanks in proper position to be taken by the feeding devices 5 and b isa gage attached to the fixed bed B', which is in front ofthe table B,for keeping the front edges of the blanks in proper position. G is ahorizontal rotating shaft arranged in the` rear of and above the tableB, and carrying two cams, D and E,'and a pair of cranks, F F, thepurposes and operations of which will be presently described.

G is a presser, consisting of a straight-edged` plate attached securely'to the front end of lever G', which is fast ,on a horizontal rookshaft,G2, arranged over the table B. This rock-shaft is furnished with an arm,c, to which there is applied a spring, d, which keeps the Vpresser Gdown upon the pile of blanks during about halfot' every revolution ofthe shaft C, the said presser being raised during the other portion ofeach revolution by the action of the cam D upon the rear end of the saidlever.

the pile, having its edge, ot' the form. shown in Figs. 3 and 4, setwith a downward inclination toward the presser G, or in the oppositedirection to that in which the feed is to take place, the object ot'such inclination being to loosen the front ends of the top blanks fromthe pileby gathering them up, as shown at c in Fig. 2, and slipping.them backward in the opposite direction to the feed or toward thepresser G, while the latter is pressed down upon the back part of thepile. I will here remark that this mode of loosening the blanks is thesubject of Letters Patent No. 10,824, granted to H. Clark, April 25,1854, but that Clark used blocks faced with india-rubber i11- stead ofthe blade H for taking hold of the The blade H has an edge ing a seriesoi' sharp points or teeth, e. e. These points or teeth are produced bycutting with a chisel in the flat surface of the under face ot' theblade a series of notches, j' f, as shown in y, Figs. Il and 5, similarto what are made in what is termed a float-cut file;7 the direction ofthe said notches being transverse to the edge 0i' the blade, andafterward grinding the H is the blade for looseningthe top blank ofopposite vside of the blade on a bevel, as shown at g in Fig. l, tillthe ridges between the notches f fform sharp points or teeth. I havemade numerous experiments with edges of various characters and withseries of points of various forms and constructions, but have found noedge or system ot' points which take hold of the upper sheet or piece ofpaper from al pile with so milch certaintyT as the toothed edge abovedescribed. The blade H is attached to a lever, H', which is carried by ahoiizontal rock-shaft, I, which is fitted to work in bearings in twoarms, J J', rigidly attached to a horizontal rockshaft, J, whosejournals are arranged in ixed bearings supported on the sides ot' theframe A. The rock'- shaft J has its rocking motion produced by thecombined action oi the cam E on the rotating shaft C and a spring, It,the said cam acting upon a sliding rod, E', which is connected with anarm, J2, secured tothe rock-shaft, and the spring connecting the saidarm with a stationary guide, K, through which the rod E works. lIhemotion of the rockshaft J produces vthe necessary backward and forwardlmovement ot' the blade II, and itsv upward and downward movement isobtained by the movement ofthe rock-shaft I in its bearings, produced inthe following manner: As the arms J Jl and rock-shaft I are swingingAforward or away from the table B, a pin, fi, carried by an arm, l?,secured to I, runs up a stationary inclined plane, j, shown in Figs. land 6, and so causes l to turn in Va direction to raise the blade H, andas the arms J J swing back again the said blade is depressed by theaction of springs l Z, which connect the front end of the lever H withthe rock-shaft J. The lever H is not rigidly secured to the rock shaftI, but vfitted to oscillate thereon to a slight extent in order toenable the springs Z l to always bring the toothed edge of the blade Hin contact with the top blank with a suitable and uniform pressurenotwithstanding slight variations in the elevation of the top of thepile or any inaccuracy in the mechanism from which the said bladederives its motion, and the said lever is lifted to raise the blade Elby means of an arm, H2, which is firmly secured upon the rock-shaft I,and which is furnished with a pin or projecting piece, m, which issituated under the said lever. As the rock-shaft I is swun g back towardthe presser Gby the action of the rock-shaft J, the springs t l keep thelever H bearing upon thepin m until the edge of the blade H is allowedby the pin t', descending the inclined planej, to come in contact withthe top blank and be pressed down 'thereon by the said springs 1 l, andin the continued backward movement of the rockshaft I, blade H, andtheir appurtenances, the arm H is allowed to drop to bring its pin m outof contact with the lever H and leave the blade H pressed upon the paperwith such pressure as is due to the springs l l.

L is the separator for separating the top sheet of the pile from the onenext below it when its front end is moved forward again after havingbeen moved back, consisting of a plate attached to a horizontalrock-shaft, M, which is arranged parallel with the rock-shafts I, J, andGr2 in fixed bearings secured to the bed B, justin front of the table B.This plate is beveled to a thin edge, which is presented over the frontedge ot' the table B, toward the presser G, and which projects over thefront gage, b. This separator has applied to it a spring, n, which tendsto press its edge down upon the pile of blanks a ct. The rockshaft M hassecured toit near one end an elbowlever, q 1^, (shown in Fig. 2,) theupper arm, g, of which has a hole, through which plays a rod, p, (shownin Figs. 1 and 2,) which is connected with the arm J2 of the rock shaftJ, and on this rod there is a screw-thread tted with a nut, p', which,as the said arm J2 swings for ward with the motion ot' the rock-shaft J,comes in contact with the arm q, and by pushing said arm back raises upthe separator from the pile to permit the front end of the top blank tobe drawn from under it by the blade H when the latter moves Iback again.

After the separator has been thus raised, it is` locked to prevent itsdescending, when the arm J2 swings back again by means of a spring stoplever, N, which works on avtiXed fulcrum, s, Fig. 2, and which is drawnby the spring s under the arm r of the elbow-lever so soon as that armhas been `raised above its projection s2. As the knife is about toterminate its backward movement the end of the rod p comes in contactwith the said stop-lever N and pushes it from under the arm r of theelbow-lever, and so permits the spring n, to bring down theseparator onthe next blank below the top one, which has been exposed by the blade Hhaving drawn back the frontend of the top one. The consequence of thisdescent ot' the separator is that when the blade H moves forward againwith the front part of the top blank the latteris caused to pass overthe separator. y

P is the toothed iin ger which takes hold of the front end of the blankafter it has been deposited upon the separator and draws the whole blankforward over the bed B". This finger is furnished with two very tine andsharppointed pins or teeth, x no, and is secured rigidly to a horizontalrock-shaft, P, which is fitted to bearings in a carriage, Q, which isfitted to slide on ways on the sides of the framing A A, and isconnected by rods Q Q with the cranks F F on the rotating shaft U, andwhich derives from the said cranksa horizontal reciprocating motion in abackward and forward direction. The said 'rock-shaft P is furnished withan arm, P2, to which a spring, te, is applied in such manner as to eX-ert a constant tendency to raise it, and so de-l press the nger P. Thisarm P2 is so formed that in passing under a stationaryfpin, t, securedin the frame A, just before the carriage completes its forward movement,it is depressed, and the finger P thereby caused to 39,872Y 'y I beraised up, When thus depressed, .the said arm P2 is locked by aself-acting spring-stop, R, which swings on a pin, il, attached to thecarriage Q ,and the iiuger P is thus kept raised above the bed B duringnearly the whole of its backward movement, but just before the lattermovement terminates the spring-'stop R strikes a stationary-pin, e,secured in the frame A, and is so eaused'to-liberate the. arm P2 andallow. the spring w to bring down the finger and make it stick its'points x a: into the front part of the top blank, which has had thatpartdeposited upon the separator, the presser Gr and separator being nowraised up and the said blank being free to be carried forward. The topof the separator and surface of the bed B have grooves provided in themfor the reception of the pins w to prevent the blunting of the said pinsand insure their penetratingthe paper. p

Having now described the construction and separate operations of thevarious parts ot' the feeder, I will briey explain their combinedoperation in feeding the blanks. rlhe blade H comes down upon the frontpartl ot' the top blank of the pile, while it held down some distancefarther back by the presser G, and while the separator L is raised,andin moving backward, the said blade gathers u p the said blank in frontof the presser G, as shown at a in Fig. 2, and draws its front edge fromunder the separator, leasing all the other blanks undisturbed. 'lheseparator now comes down upon the uncovered iront portion of the blanknext below the top one, and the blade H moves forward to brin g thefront edge ot' the top one upon the separator, after having done whichit rises up out ot' contact with the blank. 'lhe separator then rises upfrom `the pile, raising the front portion ot' the top blank, and beinglocked by the lever N, as hereinbefore vexplained, and this ,movement ofthe separator is followed by the rise of the presser G to lib.-

erate the. said blank, which is then immef.

diately taken by the iingcr P and by it dra-wn back over the bed B anddelivered to the mechanism in which it is to be folded or otherwisemanipulated. As soon as one blank has been drawn from under the presserGr the latter descends upon the next one below, and as soon as the firstone has entirely passed the blade H the said blade comes down again4upon the next one, and begins to gather -it up toward the presser, asbefore described with reference to the lirst one, and in this way theoperation is repeated with every revolution of the shaft C. t

I do not claim the loosening or detaching of a sheet or pieoe of paperfrom a pile by a backward and forward movement; but A What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l.` The employment for loosening or detaching a sheet, piece, orV blankof paper from a pile ot' a blade, H, having a toothed edge ot theconstruction herein described with reference to Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

2. The attachment of the loosening and detac-hing blade H, or an)Y bladefor a similar purpose, to a rock-shaft, l, which has a reciprocatingmotion-transverse to its axis, as Well asan oscillating motion upon itsaxis, by means ot' alever, Happlied to workl loosely upon the saidrock-shaft, in combination with a spring or springs, t, and an arm, H2,and pin or projection ne, rigidly attached to the said roekshat't,substantially as herein specified.

rlhe reeiprocatiiig and vibrating toothed or pointed finger l), appliedand operating in combination with the oscillating separator L, and theblade H or other device i'or loosening the paper from the pile by asimilar action, substantially as herein speeitied.

EDWINv ALLEN.

Witnessesz DANIEL RonERTsoN, G. W. REED.

